Draft:Rafram Chaddad

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Rafram Chaddad (born June 26, 1976), is a Tunisian visual artist, food researcher and a writer. He lives and works in Tunis, Tunisia.

'''Rafram Chaddad''' (born 1976) is a Tunisian-Jewish contemporary artist and photographer. His work explores memory, migration, and identity through photography, installations, short films, and performance. He has exhibited internationally in Europe, North Africa, and the United States, and is known for his documentary and artistic engagement with Jewish heritage in North Africa.

[[File:Original 6a92673f-f45a-47a8-a7ff-ef6b0387f082 Screenshot 20220913-131934~2.jpg|thumb|Rafram Chaddad]]

[[File:Original 6a92673f-f45a-47a8-a7ff-ef6b0387f082 Screenshot 20220913-131934~2.jpg|thumb|Rafram Chaddad]]

== Early life and education ==

== Biography ==

Chaddad was born in 1976 on the island of Djerba, Tunisia, into a Jewish family. He grew up in Jerusalem, where he studied photography and visual arts. He is the grandson of Rabbi Boaz Haddad, a significant figure in the Jewish community of Djerba.[<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rafram Chaddad Official Website |url=https://www.rafram.com |access-date=4 July 2025 |website=rafram.com}}</ref>][<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme website |url=https://www.mahj.org/fr/media/rafram-chaddad-retour-tunis |access-date=4 July 2025}}</ref>]

Rafram Chaddad was born in 1976 in Djerba Island in Tunisia. He was raised in Jerusalem, and graduated from the Musrara school of photography and new media. In 2010, while working on a photography project in Libya, Rafram was kidnapped by the secret police and spent six months in solitary confinement in the notorious prison Abu Slim, in Tripoli. His book about this affair was published in 2013. Chaddad is currently based in Tunisia.

== Themes ==

Chaddad is a multidisciplinary artist, often working with sculpture, installation, and video. He is a storyteller, and draws from stories that are biographical in nature, often from his own family history. Chaddad approaches these stories from a manual and tactile angle. Food and traditional craftsmanship are tools at his disposal to tell a tangible truth that can never be too far removed from the viewer. With his works, Chaddad aims to stop life and show it – to revel in the day-to-day sensory experiences of eating, creating, living in a certain location and culture. Chaddad works in the mode of relational aesthetics; he seeks audience interaction, and in his work hopes to spark conversation around questions of belonging and identity

== Career ==

== Career ==

Chaddad’s artistic practice combines photography, archives, performance, and narrative. He focuses on themes such as memory, displacement, and the intersection of personal and collective history.

[[File:Triadic Memories.jpg|alt=triadic|thumb|Triadic Memories, 2022]]

Chaddad’s work has been exhibited internationally, at venues such as Art Explora, Marseilles, Kunst im Tunnel, Dusseldorf; Herzliya Museum, Herzliya; Kayu Lucie Fontaine Gallery, Bali and Lucie Fontaine Milan; Helena Rubinstein Pavilion, Tel Aviv; Halle 14, Leipzig; and Zalatimo, Jerusalem. Chaddad has exhibited solo at the B7L9 in Tunis, Mucem Museum in Marseilles and Maximilian Forum / Platform Munich. He has received grants from the Kamal Lazaar Foundation, Halle 14, Cittadellarte – Pistoletto Foundation, and received the Bronner stipend from the Goethe Institute. Chaddad completed a residency with Artport in 2012.

In 2010, while documenting Jewish heritage sites in Libya for the Or Shalom Center, Chaddad was arrested and imprisoned in Libya for six months under Muammar Gaddafi’s regime. His experience in Libya has informed parts of his later work and writings.[<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chaddad Rafram {{!}} Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme |url=https://www.mahj.org/fr/taxonomy/term/49317 |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=www.mahj.org |language=fr}}</ref>][<ref>{{Cite web |last=Robbie |date=2020-03-28 |title=Rafram Chaddad: isolation — Stories Apartamento Magazine |url=https://www.apartamentomagazine.com/stories/rafram-chaddad-isolation/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=Apartamento Magazine |language=en-GB}}</ref>]

== External links ==

http://www.rafram.com

Chaddad has exhibited his work in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Tunisia and internationally, including at Mucem in Marseille, Kunst im Tunnel in Düsseldorf, Kunstraum in New York, the Maximilian Forum in Munich, and other venues. In 2023, he presented his solo exhibition ''The Good Seven Years'' at Station B7L9 in Tunis, which explored memories and identities related to Tunisia’s Jewish community and his own personal history.[<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-08-27 |title=Exposition — «The Good Seven Years» de Rafram Chaddad au B7L9, à partir du 31 août : Mémoires et identités |url=https://lapresse.tn/2023/08/27/exposition-the-good-seven-years-de-rafram-chaddad-au-b7l9-a-partir-du-31-aout-memoires-et-identites/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=La Presse de Tunisie |language=fr-FR}}</ref>][<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-09-08 |title=Art contemporain : Rafram Chaddad explore la mémoire des juifs de Tunisie |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2023/09/08/art-contemporain-rafram-chaddad-explore-la-memoire-des-juifs-de-tunisie_6188370_3212.html |access-date=2025-07-04 |language=fr}}</ref>]

== References ==

[https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2023/09/08/art-contemporain-rafram-chaddad-explore-la-memoire-des-juifs-de-tunisie_6188370_3212.html]

He has collaborated on cultural projects, talks, and residencies in Europe and North Africa. His works often integrate culinary, archival, and performative elements to create immersive experiences for viewers.

https://www.apartamentomagazine.com/stories/rafram-chaddad/?v=947d7d61cd9a

== Publications ==

http://www.halle14.org/studioprogramm/stipendien/2013-the-politics-and-pleasures-od-food.html

[[File:Triadic Memories.jpg|alt=triadic|thumb|Triadic Memories, 2022]]

In 2023, Chaddad self-published his first artist book, ''The Good Seven Years''. The book includes photographs, essays, and personal reflections on his memories and artistic practice. It features a biographical essay by scholar Yigal Nizri.[<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chaddad |first=Rafram |title=The Good Seven Years |publisher=Self-published |year=2023 |isbn=978-9938-78-347-6}}</ref>]

== Artistic style and themes ==

https://arteeast.org/programs/rafram-chaddad/

Chaddad’s work is rooted in narration and documentary practice. He often uses personal archives, culinary traditions, and oral histories to examine questions of identity, memory, and migration.<blockquote>“Narration is a crucial element of my work. The stories are told through my perspective, highlighting both what I remember and what I have forgotten.” — Rafram Chaddad, ''The Good Seven Years'' exhibition statement[<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-08-17 |title=The Good Seven Years |url=https://www.kamellazaarfoundation.org/exhibtion/good-seven-years |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=Kamel Lazaar Foundation |language=en}}</ref>]</blockquote>

== Selected exhibitions ==

https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2020/02/tunisias-very-quiet-food-revolution.html

* '''2023''' — ''The Good Seven Years'', solo exhibition, Station B7L9, Tunis, Tunisia.

http://tohumagazine.com/article/tohu-podcast-conversation-rafram-chaddad

* Solo Exhibitions at Mucem (Marseille) and Maxmilian forum in Munich. Other shows in Kunst im Tunnel (Düsseldorf), Kunstraum (New York), , among others.

http://flattmag.com/art/slow-dont-buy-fruit-stranger/

== See also ==

https://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2010%2F08%2F09%2F116192

* Tunisian contemporary art

https://www.erev-rav.com/archives/english/take-seat-black-couscous

* Jewish heritage in North Africa

https://artviewer.org/tag/rafram-chaddad/

<blockquote></blockquote>

https://www.tagesspiegel.de/gesellschaft/ein-grenzganger-3523966.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/12/travel/tunis-tunisia-vacation-at-home.html

https://www.kunstraumllc.com/single-post/2016/09/04/simmer

https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2023/09/08/art-contemporain-rafram-chaddad-explore-la-memoire-des-juifs-de-tunisie_6188370_3212.html

https://attalaki.org/art-identity-and-the-jewish-heritage-of-tunisia-rafram-chaddad-artistic-journey/

https://www.frieze.com/article/rafram-chaddad-remapping-252

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

<nowiki>[[:Category:Israeli writers]]</nowiki>

<nowiki>[[:Category:Israeli writers]]</nowiki>

<nowiki>[[:Category:Tunisian artists]]</nowiki>

<nowiki>[[:Category:Tunisian artists]]</nowiki>